Forever Young
by Celino
Summary: It's the weekend, and Henry expected it to pass as all the other weekends in New York had. Until a tourist enters the antique shop...there's an accident...then everything changes.


Author's note: Hi everybody, thanks for having a look at my story! Now I loved the concept of 'Forever', and I cannot believe that they cancelled the show- there was so much potential! We still had so much to learn about Adam, about how Jo would take Henry's story, about how she'd help him avoid detection in the future, any other immortals that may exist, and how the heck did they get their condition in the first place? Not to mention what could happen to Henry if something happened to Abe, which I'm trying not to think about...

So, I thought I'd write a story, and while I intend this to be a one shot, it's really just to illustrate an idea I thought the writers could take, so it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger. Hope you like it!

~..~..~..~..

Henry took another sip of tea as he watched Abraham flip the shop's sign from 'closed' to 'open'. It was a Saturday, and Henry was looking forward to spending some more time in his laboratory doing research. He'd been reading about genetics lately, and thought that perhaps the key to his condition may lie in his DNA strand.

"You're not going into your dungeon today are you?" Abe asked, as if reading Henry's mind. "It's the weekend, relax."

"I was planning to go to my laboratory and do some research," Henry answered patiently.

"A beautiful New York day, and you're going to spend it in a basement?" Abe asked incredulously. "You need to get out. And not just for work," he added, just as Henry was opening his mouth to protest.

"Two centuries gives one plenty of time to see the world, Abe," Henry answered, taking another sip of tea. "There are few places that I haven't seen. The same could be said for you."

"'Because you dragged me everywhere," Abe smiled reminiscently. "I was the only kid at my high school who could speak five languages."

A tinkling of the bell alerted Abe to a customer and he turned to see a petite young woman enter the shop, looking around curiously.

"Good morning," the woman greeted cheerfully, she didn't look much older than her mid twenties, and was dressed casually in jeans, walking boots and a turquoise peasant-style top. A white and blue beaded scarf was around her neck.

"Morning," Abe greeted in a friendly fashion. "My name's Abe. Can I help you find something?"

"Oh, I'm just looking," the woman politely declined in a soft voice, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. "I love antique stores. Nowadays, you get so inundated with 'the latest' of something, that you just throw away after six months. It's nice, sometimes," she continued walking around the store, examining the furniture and art work, "to see things that were handmade, that people took pride in creating, and were built to last."

"Absolutely," Abe agreed, hoping he could still make a sale. "You know, it's not often young people come into the store. It's nice to know that this generation can still appreciate us antiques."

"Did you just call yourself an antique?" The woman asked, raising her eyebrows with a smile.

"Well, some of this stuff is younger than I am," Abe nodded. "And some older," he added wryly, shooting a glance over at Henry, who was still seated by the counter.

Catching the look, Henry sat up straighter in his chair.

"I doubt you'll make a sale, Abe," he informed his son. "She's a tourist. And judging by her respect for antiques, I doubt she'd risk something getting damaged in the long travel home."

Spying the man by the counter for the first time, the woman tilted her head curiously.

"Was it my accent that gave me away?" She asked.

"Yes," Henry nodded, standing up, casting his practiced eyes over the woman before him. "That, and the fact that you looked the wrong way while crossing the street to the shop. You're from the Southern Hemisphere, as they often drive on the left side of the road." Henry stepped forward. "You're too pale to be from the tropics, as you don't have much of a tan, however, you're accent reminds me of..." he trailed off thoughtfully, "New Zealand?"

"Very good," the woman smiled brightly. "Most people think I'm English, though I can tell from your accent, that you could probably tell the difference. Or they think I'm Australian."

"I'm originally from London", Henry nodded, "and you don't have the same... _twang_ , as someone from Australia."

"Nikita Hale," the woman held out her hand.

"Henry Morgan," he shook her hand cordially.

"Abraham," Abe had to step forward to introduce himself. "Stop stealing my customers, _Doc_. So," Abe continued, "Nikita, what brings you to the U.S?"

"It's a long story," she answered slowly.

Henry smiled, for he was sure he could top any long story she could have.

"Hey, we've got time," Abe assured her, however Henry thought it best to excuse himself.

"Actually, I'll be heading downstairs," He announced.

"Oh, no you don't," Abe said firmly, grasping his father cum son by the shoulder. "This is part of getting out: having conversations with new people. So, Nikita," he turned back to the small woman in his shop. "What's your story?"

Nikita was smiling slightly at the banter between the two men. 'They must be family' she thought. There was that closeness between them.

"Well, about a year ago, I was in a plane crash," Nikita informed bluntly and there was a slight pause from her shocked audience and her lips quirked again at their stunned expressions. "I was flying from Auckland to America to visit my family in Kansas, and the plane crashed right into the harbour. Some engine fault apparently. I don't remember much," she added quietly, thinking. "Just the feeling of my stomach in my throat and my heart pounding as we fell. Then we hit the water, and everything went black. Though I do remember a fire in the plane," she added thoughtfully. "Then, next thing I know, I'm in the water, and the surface is right above me. I swim hard and I find myself in the harbour, surrounded by wreckage, smoke billowing everywhere. Only three people survived, including myself," she finished. "I was the least injured though. They say the safest place to be is the back of the plane, so I guess I got lucky."

"Very lucky," Henry said softly.

"They say that the best way to conquer your fear is to get 'back on the horse' so," Nikita continued gesturing around her. "As soon as I got a new passport, I decided I needed to travel. See as much of the world as I could." She smiled wistfully. "It's amazing: how escaping death so narrowly can make you realise how wondrous life is."

"Some of us could do with being reminded of that," Abe said pointedly. "But don't think you have to rush around," Abe told Nikita carefully. "You're so young, you've got plenty of time. How old are you? Twenty three?"

Nikita quirked a smile again.

"Actually, I'm thirty," she informed him.

"What?" Henry queried. "You look so much younger."

"I've always been like that," Nikita smiled proudly. "When I was ten, people thought I was five, when I was eighteen, I could still get child's tickets at the movies and when I was twenty five, people thought I was seventeen. I look forward to when I'm fifty and I look forty three," she finished smugly. "Though, I think it's mostly my height and voice that make people think I'm younger."

"To my old eyes," Abe said charmingly, "you look like a child."

"Aw, thank you," Nikita bobbed a curtsy.

Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Henry felt he'd been social for long enough.

"Well, Abe, if you need me I'll be downstairs," he announced before making his exit.

"Nice meeting you, Henry," Nikita called.

"You as well," Henry called back.

"Oh, no you don't," Abe turned to follow his father determinedly as Nikita made her way to the door, smiling again at the banter. "I refuse to let you spend another weekend in that dungeon of yours. Didn't you hear Nikita? Life is wondrous. You should be out there." Abe pointed to the window.

Sighing as he automatically followed Abe's finger, to where it pointed out the window, Henry felt time slow down as his heart seemed to rise to his throat.

Nikita was out on the street, preparing to cross the road, however, as before, she looked the wrong way down the road and stepped out to cross.

"No!"

But there was nothing to be done. Breaks squealed as Henry and Abe raced outside, where the taxi driver sat frozen in shock in the driver's seat of his cab. Being New York, no one else seemed to have noticed that there had just been an accident.

Abe and Henry raced to the curb, and Henry knelt down to where the young tourist lay, unconscious as blood streamed down her face.

"Head wound from hitting the curb when she fell," Henry muttered, noticing the blood on the road. "Nikita, can you hear me?" He pressed his fingers at the pulse point at her throat.

"I'll call an ambulance," Abe announced.

Henry felt his throat tighten, as he searched for a pulse but could find one.

"Too late," he whispered.

Suddenly, the woman cradled in Henry's arms disappeared, and Henry held only air. Even the blood on the ground had vanished.

"Oh, my god," Abe whispered, whereas Henry was too shocked to speak.

"Hey," a voice called as the cabbie got shakily out of the car. "Is that girl okay? What happened?"

Henry straightened up quickly, trying to stay calm.

"You didn't hit her," Henry reported. "It was a close call, but you didn't."

"Really?" The cabbie seemed weak with relief.

"Yeah, she just kept going across the road," Abe added, gesturing to the far side of the street. "Tourists, huh?" he scoffed.

"Yeah," the cabbie agreed slowly, nodding. "Tourists."

As the taxi driver got back in his car, Henry brought his hands to his mouth in shock before turning quickly to Abe.

"The East river," he stated.

"Guess I'm closing early," Abe said brightly.

~..~..~..~..

Nikita burst to the surface of the water, gasping for air. Looking around, she noticed she was somehow in a river.

'What the-?' She thought in a panic as she gasped for breath. 'How did I get here?'

A moment later, she realised she was naked.

"Oh, God," she mumbled in a panic. "What the hell happened?"

The water was freezing, and she was already starting to shiver. As much as she didn't want to leave the relative safety of the water, Nikita knew she couldn't stay, and reluctantly began to swim towards the riverbank.

As her feet touched land, Nikita glanced around, pulling her long hair forward to cover as much as possible, thankful she hadn't had it cut. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on your perspective, there was no one near her, and she cautiously made her way out of the water.

'What now?' she wondered. She had to get dry and she had to get covered. But there was no way she could do anything without being seen.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of an engine as a car pulled up along the river. Quickly, Nikita ducked below the lip of the bank, hoping to stay hidden.

~..~..~..~..

"You sure she'll be here?" Abe asked curiously.

"Where else could she be?" Henry answered as he got out of the car quickly.

"Well," Abe considered, "maybe it's different for her."

"If you have any better ideas I'm open to suggestions," Henry invited as he searched the water before him. "It's taken us twenty minutes to drive here, so based on my calculations, and own experiences, she should have 'awakened' by now."

"Henry?"

Henry turned as he heard his name and saw Nikita peeking out from over the lip of the river bank.

"Is that you?"

"Nikita," Henry quickly took off his coat and took it over to her, respectfully averting his eyes as he handed it over. "Glad to see you're alright."

"Three things," Nikita said as she quickly covered herself and Henry offered his hand to help her onto the path. "One: thank you for finding me, and for the coat."

"Any time," Henry answered with a smile.

"And he means anytime," Abe added cheekily.

Deciding to ignore the comment, Nikita continued, keeping her gaze steadily on Henry.

"Two: How did you know I would be here?"

"Well," Henry began awkwardly. "That's a bit more complicated. What's the third thing?"

"What the hell just happened?" Nikita stated bluntly. "One minute I'm on the road, the next I'm in the water. How did I get here?"

Henry's eyes widened as he studied the young woman's face. She was serious.

"You don't know?" He asked. This must have been a very recent development, if Nikita was unaware.

 _The plane crash_ , he realised. _That_ was her transformation time. She thought she had just survived the crash, but she didn't. She had died and transformed into an immortal. Nikita just didn't realise it.

"No, I have _no_ idea," the woman seemed on the verge of a panic attack and she was clearly shaken.

"Well," Henry glanced over at Abe, who nodded in encouragement. "Perhaps you should come back to the shop. We'll find you something to wear, and... I'll explain."

Nikita eyes were sceptical as she studied him.

"How do _you_ know what happened to me, when even _I_ don't know?" She asked.

"Because," Henry took a breath. "The same thing has happened to me."

~..~..~..~..

Henry stood in his laboratory before Nikita, who was seated on the stairs, wearing a dress taken from the shop, and a disbelieving expression.

"I'm...immortal?" She repeated slowly.

"I realise it's a lot to take in," Henry granted. "But, as I've explained, I've had a similar experience. I was shot, you were in a plane crash. And like you, I return in water every time I die. That's how you spontaneously ended up in the river after being hit by that car. You died. And Abe and I saw you disappear."

"I actually disappeared?" Nikita repeated flatly.

" _Vanished_ ," Henry gestured with his hands, "even the blood from your head wound disappeared from the road. It's lucky we were the only ones to see you," Henry added, thinking it had been a very fortunate circumstance.

"Hate for something like that to end up on Youtube," Abe agreed from his position in Henry's desk chair.

"On _what_ tube?" Henry queried, before casting the question aside, for he had more important things to focus on. "And when you vanished, Nikita," he continued to tell the new immortal, "you returned to water, the closest natural volume of water to you, in this case: the east river."

Nikita's face was blank.

"I'm sorry, Henry," she shook her head as she stood up. "But I just don't-"

"You can't believe simply my word," Henry granted, "that's completely understandable." Turning to his desk, Henry opened a drawer to take out a pistol.

"What are going to do with that?" Nikita asked nervously as he checked the barrel was loaded.

"You need convincing," Henry stated. "And while I'm usually in the habit of avoiding being seen, I believe this is something you need to see."

"Are you going to shoot me?" Nikita asked, positioning herself as if to race back up the stairs.

"Remain calm, I'm not planning on shooting you," Henry assured her, instead bringing the pistol to his own temple.

"Oh, I hate this," Abe mumbled covering his eyes.

"Henry?" Nikita's eyes widened in shock. "You can't-"

"See you at the East river," Henry announced before pulling the trigger.

Nikita stifled a scream as Henry fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. She sat, frozen in shock staring at the man lying on the ground before her.

"Oh, I hate it when he does things like this," Abe stood up quickly to reassure the poor girl.

"Oh, my," Nikita choked out in shock before starting as Henry's body simply vanished.

Feeling her jaw drop, Nikita pointed numbly to the spot where Henry had just lain.

"Where did he go?" She asked faintly, looking up at Abe.

Sighing, Abe helped the confused woman to her feet.

"Come on," he invited. "I'll drive."

~..~..~..~..

Henry dried off his hair using the towel Abe offered him as he got into the car.

"Believe me now?" Henry asked, catching Nikita's eyes on him.

"How..." the woman appeared to struggle to think straight as Abe drove them back to the shop. "How is this possible?"

"I have no idea," Henry admitted. "I've been trying to find answers myself for two hundred years."

"Two hundred years?" Nikita repeated, he voice cracking with shock. "You've been around for two hundred years?"

"Give or take a decade," Henry answered with a smile.

Nikita turned her gaze to Abraham warily. "And what about you?" she asked cautiously. "Are you immortal too?"

"Nope, just an ordinary guy," Abe admitted casually. "Henry actually adopted me, but nowadays we say that me and his dad were business partners."

"This is your son?" Nikita asked Henry, pointing to Abe with a smile, laughing slightly. "Cool."

"I like to think Henry's been blessed to have raised me," Abe commented with good humour.

"Of course I do, Abe," Henry smiled with relief that Nikita appeared to be taking her situation in relatively good stride. However, being as new as she was, she may still not yet realise the heartbreak that inevitably lay ahead.

As they re entered the shop, and returned to the basement, Henry noticed Nikita was silent and pensive as she regarded the room around her. Her eyes examining his diagrams and books, covering all his experiments regarding his immortality.

"So, whenever we die, we travel to the closest water source?" Nikita clarified.

"Yes," Henry nodded. " That's been my experience."

"Why?"

"I have no idea," Henry admitted. "I think it has something to do with our original death. I first died in the water, just as you did," he explained.

Nikita's eyes fell on the pistol that still lay on the floor, where Henry had dropped it. Suddenly, she picked it up, and Henry was startled to see a determined look on her face.

"Nikita," he cautioned, but the woman cut him off.

"I need to do this," she told him, and brought the pistol to her own head. "To prove it to myself."

Closing her eyes, Nikita took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.

After a few moments of blackness, Nikita suddenly felt herself surrounded by water, with sunlight rippling on the surface above her. Kicking hard, she broke the surface of the water to find herself once again in the East River of New York City.

"It worked," she breathed.

~..~..~..~..

"Okay Henry," she announced as she got back into Abe's car minutes later. "I officially believe you now."

~..~..~..~..

"Do we still get sick?" Nikita asked as they re entered the shop.

"Yes," Henry answered as he closed the door behind them. "I have died from many different illnesses over the years."

After having recovered from the shock of realising she was, in fact, immortal, Nikita had spent the whole trip back to the shop in a pensive mood, only to seemingly re awaken and begin asking Henry a barrage of questions.

"Great," Nikita mumbled as they made their way back downstairs to Henry's lab. "I'm still going to get asthma and chest infections every winter for eternity." Then she seemed to have another thought.

"Do we grow old?" She asked cautiously.

"No," Henry informed her after a moment's hesitation. "It appears we are to remain as we were from our first death for eternity."

"Forever young," Nikita considered, "nice." Then, her expression swiftly changed to a mixture of shock and fear as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Wait," she whispered, and Henry knew she could now understand what it would really mean to be 'forever young'.

"I have to watch everyone around me die?" Nikita whispered. "I won't be able to stay in one place for long, or people will notice. Ten years, maybe? Then move?"

"That's normally what I've done, yes," Henry nodded in empathy.

Nikita slowly buried her head in her hands, raking her fingers through her long hair.

"My parents," she mumbled. "My brother, my sisters, my niece and nephew, all my cousins...I'll have to watch them die, one by one. All of them. And I won't even be able to say goodbye, because I won't be able to stay."

"Yes," Henry agreed softly, for he had to do the same thing in the early years of his life as an immortal.

Nikita slowly raised her head and seemed to stare at Henry, though her eyes were far away, and her gaze went right through him.

"Think she might have gone into shock?" Abe asked in concern after a full minute passed with no change.

"It's possible," Henry answered pensively. "But I think she's just processing it all. Seeing all the possibilities now, of what her life is now going to be like. Or what it could be like."

Another thirty seconds passed before Nikita's eyes suddenly focused on Henry.

"Two hundred years," she said, the sudden speech causing both men to start slightly in surprise.

"What?" Henry asked.

"You said you've been immortal for two hundred years," she recalled.

"Yes," Henry nodded.

"There must have been times when it was amazing, to be a part of so many important events throughout history." Nikita smiled pensively. "Having the time to learn anything you wanted, to travel anywhere you wanted to go."

"Oh yes," Henry agreed. "There have been few experiences in this world I haven't had. I could tell you so many stories."

"I'd love that," Nikita smiled enthusiastically before becoming pensive again. "Bet it's getting boring for you now, though, right?"

"What do you mean?" Henry asked.

"Earlier, in the shop, Abe was telling you to get out more, but you didn't want to," Nikita explained, tilting her head curiously as she studied Henry's face. "You've seen it all now, anyway. What new experience is there left for you? You've lived for so long, nothing is new or wondrous anymore." She sighed. "What a depressing thought."

"That's what I keep telling him!" Abe spoke up, gesturing to Henry. "You need to be a part of life again, Henry."

Nikita suddenly came to life again, clapping her hands and getting to her feet.

"Okay," she announced, grabbing Henry's hand and leading the way upstairs, "come on."

"Where are we going?" Henry asked, worried, but curious as Abe followed, smiling.

"I'm going to teach you something," Nikita announced with excitement as she led the way out of the shop and down the street.

"I work in child care back home," she told the two men. "And while adults, myself included, are often spending time saying 'come on, we have to go somewhere', children, on the other hand, are splashing in puddles, picking up leaves, or watching the birds as we walk them to and from school. An adult sees something like a ... a box, as , well, just a box. But a child," Nikita's face was glowing with enthusiasm, "a child sees a box as a rocket ship, or a race car, or a doll house, they see the wonder in the world. They see with new eyes. And I never want to lose that," Nikita met Henry's eyes earnestly. "Everyday, I try to do something childlike, so I can keep that wonder, that curiosity within me. Even if it's just pausing while trying to get somewhere, and just watching the birds flying overhead, imagining I'm flying alongside them."

"And now I realise I truly am 'forever young', I think it's more important than ever to try and see the world through the eyes of a child," Nikita concluded. "Otherwise, it would be so easy to become...despondent. You just have to open the news paper to see it: deaths, mayhem, pollution, misery, everyone blaming everyone else. It's made me despair for the human race many times, which is why I don't normally watch the news now."

"Yes," Henry agreed. "One of the worst things about living forever is seeing history repeat itself, and not being able to do anything about it."

"And it saddens you," Nikita surmised, hearing it in his voice.

"Yes," Henry answered sombrely.

Nikita nodded before suddenly stopping.

"Here it is," she announced excitedly. "I saw it on the way to your shop."

"And ice cream parlour?" Abe wondered.

"We don't have places like this in New Zealand," Nikita informed the duo as they walked in. "I mean, there are places you can buy ice cream," she qualified, "but we don't really have places devoted entirely to one thing, except maybe in the bigger cities where there's more diversity."

"Now, Abe," Nikita began with a grin as they joined the line at the counter. "What was your favourite ice cream as a child?"

"Oh, I always loved the chocolate," Abe answered eagerly, pointing. He felt he could see where Nikita was going with this, but Henry, while still in the dark, went along.

"I thought you liked the strawberry?" Henry commented with a frown.

"No, mom's favourite was strawberry," Abe countered. "So, of course, that's what you always bought us." Suddenly, he began chuckling at a memory. "I remember when I went with my friend Bobby to the local diner and I bought a chocolate shake. Then this girl I liked walked in and said hi to me. I was so shocked, I choked on my shake. Chocolate came out my nose!"

"Oh, no," Nikita cringed, "what happened?"

"She apologised to me actually," Abe recalled with a smile. "She thought she'd startled me, and I was able to convince her to go out to the movies with me that Friday."

"I don't remember that," Henry cast his mind back.

"I told you and mom I was going to the movies with Bobby," Abe informed his father candidly.

"What about you, Henry?" Nikita asked before he could make a retort. "What was your favourite ice cream as a child?"

"Goodness, I can barely remember when I was a child," Henry sighed. "We didn't have ice cream, as such, though we did have shaved ice. Actually, I think I've always rather preferred sorbet to ice cream. Oh," Henry exclaimed, "I remember when we went to France for our first family holiday and we had sorbet by the Eiffel tower," he reminisced with a smile. "Do you remember, Abe?"

"Yeah," Abe answered eagerly. "I remember asking if you were there when the Eiffel tower was built."

"Yes," Henry nodded," and I had been."

"Really?" Nikita asked.

"Don't," Abe instructed, raising a hand, "go into a History lesson Henry," and Nikita laughed at the expression on Henry's face. Her idea was working, and they hadn't even ordered yet.

It was their turn now, though. Abe ordered a chocolate thick shake, Henry ordered lemon sorbet, and Nikita ordered a double scoop-one of goody goody gumdrop, and one of mint chocolate chip.

"So, Nikita," Abe spoke up as they sat down at a table to eat, Abe had insisted on paying. "Why did you pick your flavours?"

Nikita smiled as she dug her spoon into the ice cream and scooped up a purple gumdrop.

"My brother and I always used to get goody goody gumdrop ice cream whenever we were eating out," she began. "We used to try and guess how many gumdrops we'd have in our scoop, who would have more, and what colours they'd be. It was like searching for treasure. Our fingers always got really sticky, of course, and mum would say: 'don't play with your food', but we'd still do it." She smiled as she popped the gumdrop in her mouth.

"Now, the mint choc chip has always been a favourite of mine," Nikita continued. "My grandmother was always a good gardener, and it was she who got me interested in gardening as well. Though for the longest time, my beans died, and the corn was stunted and my basil got completely bug eaten. But the mint," Nikita scooped up a spoonful of the ice cream in question, "the mint always thrived. No matter where we moved to, the mint always grew well, no matter what. I'd go outside, and I could just inhale that fresh smell." She stuck the spoon in her mouth, closing her eyes as she savoured the taste of mint on her tongue. "I'm a lot better at gardening now," she finished with a smile, "but mint is something I've always grown. I can't imagine my garden without it, 'cause it was the first thing I could grow. And it was my grandma who got me started."

The two men smiled.

"It's wonderful you have such beautiful memories," Henry commented.

"So do you," Nikita pointed her spoon at him.

"But I'm still not sure I see the point of this," Henry confessed and Abe began to chuckle.

"I believe this is the point, Pops," he told his father amicably.

"If you are having trouble seeing the wonder in the world, you need a trigger to help you see things like a child again," Nikita explained. "Now, I've yet to meet a child who didn't like ice cream, and as you both have discovered," she gestured to the two of them, "ice cream is usually around happy memories."

Henry nodded slowly in understanding.

"By remembering childhood, you can see the world through a child's eyes," he surmised and Nikita smiled proudly.

"Now look around you," she instructed. "What do you see?"

Henry turned his gaze out the window, where he saw a multitude of people going about their lives. Many with their heads down and walking fast, determined to get to their destination, oblivious to what was around them.

But what Henry also noticed was that he could hear a busker playing the violin across the street. He hadn't even heard the music until that moment. Another movement caught his eye and he was surprised to see a squirrel bounding along the pavement before climbing up a nearby tree with ease.

As he followed the squirrel's path up the tree, his eyes were caught by the clouds, which appeared to hang ominously grey above their heads, but shafts of sunlight could be seen breaking through the dark clouds, like spotlights from the sky reaching to the ground below.

"Beautiful," Henry whispered without thinking and Abe felt a proud smile form on his face.

"Thank you, Nikita," he said aside to the young woman.

"My pleasure," she smiled.

~..~..~..~..

Unfortunately, Nikita was only in New York for a couple of days, so it wasn't long before she had to leave to continue her trip.

"Thanks for the seeing me off, Abe," Nikita hugged him in gratitude as he dropped her suitcase onto the luggage trolley at the airport.

"Oh, my pleasure, lovely lady," Abe smiled before giving her a piece of paper. "Now Henry's doesn't have email, but I do. Stay in touch, okay?"

"Thank you," Nikita accepted the paper gratefully before placing it in her pocket and turning to Henry.

"I suppose I won't be able to use this passport for much longer, huh?" She asked slowly.

"No," Henry granted. "But don't worry, I have contacts, I can help you get another one."

"You could come back to the U.S in ten years?" Abe put forward.

"I might have to," Nikita nodded. "I'm definitely going to need help."

"Well, you'll have it," Henry promised.

"Thank you," Nikita told him, drawing him in for a hug as well before taking her leave.

"I'm glad you've got her now, Henry," Abe spoke up gently. "I don't have to worry so much now. Nikita will take care of you, I know it."

"Abraham," Henry began.

"No, I mean it," Abe turned to his father earnestly. "She can remind you to enjoy life, to experience it. Not waste it studying in the dark. Who knows," Abe added pointedly, "you two have eternity together, so maybe you might..."

"Abe, please," Henry sighed as he opened the car door. He could see where his son was going with that comment, and wanted to cut it short. He liked Nikita, but doubted she was his type, romantically speaking.

"Alright, alright," Abe granted. "But she's now one of the closest things you have to family. A kid sister, perhaps?" He suggested.

At this, Henry seemed to consider.

"I've never had a sister," he said thoughtfully. "Should be interesting."

"A new experience for you," Abe cheered as he started the car. "See? Nikita's helping already."

Henry rolled his eyes with a smile, indulging his son.

"Oh, speaking of which, Nikita had an idea this morning," Henry put forward. "I was telling her of my latest theory, of our immortality being tied to our DNA strand, and she thought, that if we collaborated, tracing our family lines back, perhaps we have a common ancestor, and maybe that family line would be how our immortality was passed on, hidden through the generations, until it reached us."

"Interesting idea," Abe granted as he drove.

"Nikita thought that, once we've found our common family line, perhaps we can find others who are potentially immortal as well. There could be others like her, Abe, just waiting to be transformed! I'll have to do research of course, paper trails run thin the farther back you go. Our common ancestor could be centuries old, perhaps even all the way back to -"

"Adam?" Abe interjected.

Henry froze.

"I'm just saying, if we're talking genetics here, it's a possibility," Abe stated.

Henry wasn't sure what he thought about being related to the man who, until a day ago, had been the only other immortal that he knew of.

"I never told Nikita about Adam," he realised.

"You didn't need to, the guy's neutralised, paralysed in a hospital bed," Abe tried to calm his worried father down. "She's never going to meet him."

"Don't be so sure," Henry mused. "If I know one thing about Adam, it's that he always finds a way."

"Okay, enough depressing stuff," Abe was keen to change the subject. "How about we get some ice cream?"

"I'll have the mint chocolate chip," Henry smiled.

~..~..~..~..

As Henry and Abe began their joint venture into their family history that afternoon, the phone rang.

"If it's Jo, tell her to get a substitute," Abe called out. "It's your day off, and we're focusing on family."

Chuckling, Henry picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Henry."

Henry felt his throat tighten in shock.

"I bet you're rather surprised to hear from me."

"Adam?" Henry could barely choke out the word, though Abe's head still shot up at the sound of the name.

"Well, I am a survivor," Adam informed him. "I admit, that was a cunning move you pulled, Henry. An embolism. Locked in Syndrome. I'm impressed. Luckily for me, though, I was able to communicate to a couple of people, one of which was a patient who kept escaping from the psychiatric ward. It took a long time to blink my request, but eventually I was able to convince him to kill me. Now I'm back."

"What do you want?" Henry asked.

"Oh, what I've always wanted, Henry," there was a smile in Adam's voice now. "To know that I'm not alone. And how fortunate to find that we have another immortal to add to our little family. Another soul mate."

"How do you know about Nikita?" Henry demanded.

"Oh I saw her get hit by the car, just as you did." Adam explained. "So that's her name? Nikita. The first immortal woman. An Eve, if you will. I have to say, it's been a little while since I felt this excited, the feeling's almost...child like."

"If you hurt her," Henry began, but Adam cut him off.

"Relax, Henry, why would I want to harm her?" Adam placated. "She's so new. It would be fascinating, hearing her thoughts on immortality. I bet she has such high hopes."

A dreadful feeling of suspicion filled Henry as he heard announcements in the back ground.

"Where are you now, Adam?" He asked.

"You won't have to worry about me, Henry, I'm heading out of the country," Adam assured him. "I'd like to meet the newest member of the family. It's been a while since I've travelled to New Zealand, so I might have a tour while I wait for her to return home from her trip. "

"Adam-"

"Sorry, Henry, my flight's being called."

Adam hung up the pay phone nonchalantly before moving towards the gate.

'Nikita,' he thought as he passed his ticket over before heading onto the plane. 'A new immortal. The first woman.'

Adam smiled as he made himself comfortable for the flight. Again, he felt that strange sense of excitement.

'I look forward to meeting you.'

~..~..~..~..

Author's note: So, what do you think?

As I said, this is a one-shot, just to illustrate an idea I think the show could go into, but if there is enough interest, I may continue it. (Though I have a few other stories which I haven't updated for a while, as I've been working on this one, as well as an original, so I may not be able to update regularly.)

Please feel free to leave a review, as I do love constructive feedback.

The goody gumdrop and mint choc chip is my favourite ice cream combination when I'm eating out. For the very reasons I wrote for Nikita, regarding childhood memories with my brother and grandmother. I actually hadn't realised why I liked those ice cream flavours so much until I wrote that passage, to be honest. I was just thinking: why do I like them so much? At first I believed it was just habit, but then I thought about the taste of the ice cream, and all these memories started going through my head. And I realised that was why I loved those ice creams: because they reminded me of good times and people I love.

So, if you don't want to leave a review- feel free to share your childhood favourite ice creams. What flavours bring happy memories to you and why?

I think spreading and sharing happy memories is always a good thing.


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